In my desperate attempt to find a bodyshop that will do the ceramiclear repaint, I contacted MB of Oakville Collision Center (authorized).

I was surprised to find out that Mercedes no longer uses Ceramic infused clearcoat paints...anyone else know about this?

Here's a direct copy + paste:

Me:
Quick question: What do you guys use for clearcoats on MB vehicles? I am aware that most MB's have Ceramiclear clearcoats from PPG (Factory) but resprays from bodyshops just use regular clearcoat without the ceramic properties. Curious to hear what you guys use...

Them:


We can confirm with you that PPG’s Ceramiclear clear coat is a product that Mercedes-Benz co-developed and introduced nearly 10 years ago, and at that time it was the first clear coat to utilize nanotechnology for higher scratch resistance and reduced paint fade. Since then there have been several advancements and changes to clear coat technology as well as the overall paint process during vehicle production at the factory, not to mention changes in environmental regulations for chemical compositions used by the factory’s paint suppliers. In fact, PPG is currently not the paint supplier at any of the Mercedes-Benz factories in Germany.

It is important to note that manufacturer-approved paint suppliers vary by country as each country (and even province/state) has their own environmental laws that collision centres must adhere to. For example in the UK, Standox, Spies Hecker, and BASF are the approved paint suppliers for Mercedes-Benz collision centres; in the US, it is PPG, BASF, and Standox. In Canada, only BASF and Standox are the approved paint suppliers and you will find only one or the other at any authorized Mercedes-Benz collision centre.

We choose BASF as they have been a long-standing technology partner with Mercedes-Benz and parent company Daimler, and are currently the main paint supplier to the factory. From BASF’s product portfolio, we use the Glasurit line of water-based paint products as it not only meets the strict tolerances and requirements of Mercedes-Benz’s paint finishes, but it also meets the stringent low-VOC requirements as set by Ontario’s Ministry of Environment. Included in our Glasurit clearcoat are the same properties of high scratch-resistance that the factory’s clear coats apply, because being an authorized collision repair centre, we are bound to match factory finish. We hope that this information answers your questions and we thank you again for your inquiry.

Me:

Thanks for your help on this. Does the Glasurit line still feature ceramic particles to increase the hardness of the clear?

Them:

The Glasurit line and the factory paint do not contain ceramic particles for hardness; there is more advanced technology today utilized to ensure hardness of the clear coat and the composition varies by application and curing temperature, but typically consists of acrylate-type resins and isocyanate-type cross-linkers.

 

Essentially my goal was that if I ever needed a respray, can a body shop get the hardness of the clearcoat to the same as when it rolled off the floor.

 

If you have an SA built car it already has Glasurit paint.

Ceramiclear is a PPG trade mark. PPG did not develop the nano clearcoat with Benz. Sikkens did.

The Glusurit/BASF system is excellent and the clearcoat is nano particle infused just like PPG et al. Glusrurit colour matches are perfect as well. You could not hope for a better system than Glusurit's on your Benz.

 

I assume that if my paint ever gets damaged, there is no difference in hardness between the factory paint and a repaint then?

I have a few tiny rock chips but i've been holding off on getting them repainted since I want to preserve the hardness of the factory clear...

Just making sure. Thanks for your reply!

 

Hah! Just used Sikkens stain on my deck yesterday.

I have noticed that a lot of the new Benzes no longer have the "C" next to their paint code.

 

Yes - no problem! The glasurit system clear is tough stuff.

 

From what I can see that C was not uniformly applied. I think in any case it's been dropped because the technology is old hat.